Skip to main content

Pappu Grows Wiser

Suddenly Pappu remembered.  His English teacher had given him a project.  He had to write 5 sentences about his grandfather or grandmother, about their likes and dislikes.  So Pappu ran into grandpa's room.

Grandpa was dyeing his hair.  Why should a 65 year-old man dye his hair?  Pappu was a precocious child.  Though he was studying in class 5 some of the questions that rose in his mind belonged to class 10.

"Grey hairs are a sign of maturity and wisdom," explained Grandpa with a mischievous grin.  "I possess neither of them.  That's why I'm dyeing my hair."

The next morning, as soon as the school bus dropped him on the campus, Pappu ran to Matheikal Sir, one of the teachers in the school, and asked, "Sir, why don't you dye your hair?"
Labels:

Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 29, 2013 at 11:07 AM

    Sometimes the dye cannot hide the wisdom ;)
    Your wisdom will shine even through the dye if you decide to dye :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 29, 2013 at 4:49 PM

      I'm not going to do it, Aram. Hasn't the colour become part of my identity?

      Delete
  2. wingsJuly 29, 2013 at 11:38 AM

    The Grandpa may be yet another Matheikal!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 29, 2013 at 4:50 PM

      All characters have something or the other to do with the author's personality. So you are right.

      Delete
  3. Vaishali JainJuly 29, 2013 at 12:03 PM

    Ahaha! Pappu sure has grown wiser. :P

    ReplyDelete
  4. Brendan DabhiJuly 29, 2013 at 3:03 PM

    Smart Pappu. He's gonna pass this year, I guess! :D

    ReplyDelete
  5. Easwar ArumugamJuly 29, 2013 at 4:58 PM

    Ha ha ha.The child is more wise that the grandpa.Precocious children make life more lively. They are really the masters.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 29, 2013 at 7:11 PM

    That's why, perhaps, Wordsworth said that the child is father of man :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. jahidJuly 29, 2013 at 11:20 PM

    It seems gradually I'm becoming matured and gaining wisdom as well :)

    ReplyDelete
  8. mandakolathurJuly 30, 2013 at 10:56 AM

    The very best of self deprecation. FANTASTIC, though not true.

    If you are the "Matheikal sir" then the school, fully residential, is not the one you work in. The logic is equally applicable in the other direction.

    RE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 30, 2013 at 12:12 PM

      This is fiction, Raghuram. What actually happened is very simple. I was in the hostel the evening before I wrote this. One of the students asked me the question why I didn't dye my hair. I gave some banal answer. But the question tickled my mind while I was half asleep. Quite many of my stories are born in that state: while I'm half asleep. This too was born thus.

      Delete
    2. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 30, 2013 at 12:13 PM

      This is fiction, Raghuram. What actually happened is very simple. I was in the hostel the evening before I wrote this. One of the students asked me the question why I didn't dye my hair. I gave some banal answer. But the question tickled my mind while I was half asleep. Quite many of my stories are born in that state: while I'm half asleep. This too was born thus.

      Delete
  9. CYNOSUREJuly 30, 2013 at 12:44 PM

    Although this is a fiction, it reminded me of a kid who used to live next to my house...she used to come up with the same questions and she was not even in 5th class... :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 30, 2013 at 6:00 PM

      Children are born intelligent, the school ruins the intellect :)

      Delete
  10. UnknownJuly 30, 2013 at 3:25 PM

    Lol....that kid was tell you something :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 30, 2013 at 6:00 PM

      Indeed, Pankti. There are some real kids of the kind I've created here.

      Delete
  11. AnonymousJuly 30, 2013 at 6:56 PM

    Short and sweet story :)
    So when are you dyeing your hair?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 30, 2013 at 10:21 PM

      Thanks, Diventia. Even if I want to, I can't dye my hair for the simple reason that I'm terribly allergic to the dye.

      Delete
  12. UnknownJuly 30, 2013 at 8:12 PM

    A brilliant piece of writing having the flavour of a good short story. I enjoyed this laconic one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalJuly 30, 2013 at 10:22 PM

      Some flashes of inspiration that come occasionally, that's all Kajal ji.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is a short story by Katherine Mansfield given in the class 9 English course of NCERT. Maggie gave an assignment to her students based on the story and one of her students, Athena Baby Sabu, presented a brilliant job. She converted the story into a delightful comic strip. Mansfield tells the story of Kezia who is the eponymous little girl. Kezia is scared of her father who wields a lot of control on the entire family. She is punished severely for an unwitting mistake which makes her even more scared of her father. Her grandmother is fond of her and is her emotional succour. The grandmother is away from home one day with Kezia's mother who is hospitalised. Kezia gets her usual nightmare and is terrified. There is no one at home to console her except her father from whom she does not expect any consolation. But the father rises to the occasion and lets the little girl sleep beside him that night. She rests her head on her father's chest and can feel his heart...
16 comments
Read more

The Call of Islamic State

A year ago, the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague (ICCT) reported that about 4000 people from the West left their homes and countries to join the Islamic State (IS).  Many of them are women.  The reporters had made a special study of the women who joined the terrorist outfit and found that it was difficult to categorise which type of women were particularly drawn to IS. “While most of the girls are young, some as young as fifteen,” says the report,  “there are also mothers with young children who make the trip. Some of the girls have difficulties in school and are said to have an IQ below average,  but there are also women who are highly educated. It also appears that even though a relatively large portion of the girls had (or still have) a troubled childhood, there are some who come from families with no known problems with the authorities. Most of the girls come from religiously moderate Muslim families,  yet some converted to Islam a...
33 comments
Read more

The Plague

When the world today is struggling with the pandemic of Covid-19, Albert Camus’s novel The Plague can offer some stimulating lessons. When a plague breaks out in the city of Oran, initially the political authorities fail to deal with it as a serious problem. The ordinary people also don’t view it as an epidemic that requires public action rather than as individual annoyances. The people of Oran are obsessed with their personal sufferings and inconveniences. Finally the authorities are forced to put Oran in quarantine. Father Paneloux, a Jesuit priest, delivers a sermon declaring the epidemic as God’s punishment for Oran’s sins. Months of suffering make people rise above their selfish notions and obsessions and join anti-plague efforts being carried out by people like Dr Rieux. Dr Rieux is an atheist but committed to service of humanity. He questions Father Paneloux’s religious views when a small boy is killed by the epidemic. The priest delivers another sermon on the necess...
28 comments
Read more

Farewell to a Friend

This is a season of farewells for me.  I have lost count of the persons who have already left or are being hauled up before the firing line by the Orwellian Big Brother in the last quarter of the year.  The person, to whom we bid farewell today, however, had chosen to leave on his own.  He is going as the Principal of R K International School , Sarkaghat, Himachal Pradesh. Mr S K Sharma was a colleague and friend.  He belongs to the species of human beings whose company enriches you and whose departure creates a vacuum, notwithstanding the fact that Nature which abhors vacuum will fill it in its own unique ways.  Administration is an art for Mr Sharma, though he calls it a skill.  Management lessons, strategies and heuristics are only guidelines.  No one can manage people merely with the help of these guidelines.  People are not machines which can be controlled mechanically.  Machines work according to rules.  People do not d...
31 comments
Read more

Golden Deer: Illusions

Illustration by Copilot Designer Maricha is the demon who changed his appearance as the golden deer that attracted Sita’s attention. He doesn’t want to do it but is forced by Ravana to play the role. Maricha warns Ravana of calamitous consequences if he dares to do any harm to Sita. Rama is very powerful, in the first place. Secondly, he is very virtuous. Thirdly, he doesn’t do us any harm. Rama doesn’t even bother about us though we do immense harm to the sages in Dandakaranya where Rama too lives with Sita and Lakshmana. In spite of being an exceptionally learned and intellectually gifted person, Ravana fails to understand Maricha’s counsel. Ravana is a Brahmin by birth and was well-versed in the four Vedas and the six Vedangas. He has a deep understanding of scriptures and rituals. An ardent devotee of Lord Shiva, Ravana composed the Shiva Tandava Stotram, a complex and powerful hymn in praise of Shiva. He had won many boons from Lord Shiva through intense tapas (penance). Ye...
21 comments
Read more